Birthday Gift For Me!

I celebrated my 36th year on the 17th.  I decided to make myself a gift :).

These fabrics lured me in from the remanent rack at Joanns and I could not resist their temptation!

I have so much fabric at home to work with I really don't need to be buying new prints to work with, but hey ... I found a good excuse.  So I bought it and I sewed together this outfit.

The top I did without a pattern. Here is the process in pictures.

It's not perfect, I could have taken more time to make it more symmetrical, but it still wears nice.

I gave it a longer back. 

The red fabric has little cream colored dogs on it.  It's so light weight and adorable.  It screamed shorts with ruffles, so I tried the first pattern from the group below.

M6320

These patterns make great shorts, but I struggle through it every time.  I'm going to keep at it.  Practice makes perfect.

Here is the front,  I added the buttons for a little more style.

Side

Back

I wore it out with a denim jacket and my brown Sanuks (no more heels for this girl!).  The denim complimented it very well.

 Happy Birthday to me!  

Shirt to Skirt Refashion

The kids and I have been enjoying the beautiful, sunny weather we have been having.  Yesterday we went to the pool.  I slipped on a skirt that I recently made from a shirt and I realized I never added that to my "portfolio" (aka: blog).  

Once upon a time I had a mens shirt in black and gold, otherwise identical to the one below.

Then I had a pair of scissors and one more black shirt.  I started cutting, sewing, and pinning onto my dress form.  And now I have the perfect little beach/pool cover up!

Here is the finished project - shirt to skirt:

Front

Side

Back

I realize it is hard to see the patchwork, so here is a little better view of the front.  Very raw, but I like it.  It's not meant for out on the town, just for playing in the sand :)

Hope you like it!  Now I have to figure out what I am going to do with it's twin in grey and black .... hmmmmm.....

New Fabric Art Piece!

I just finished a new piece of fabric art and I wanted to give you a sneak peek! 

I have had the idea for this for a while and had sketched it out.  I finally pulled out my big box of scraps and started digging around for colors to match my vision.

I'm not sure what I want to call it yet. 

I'm thinking about "Messages of Love" or "Love Letters" Or "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" or "Love Waits" (although, I believe that is purity saying and I am ~so not pure~ lol).  The kids like "Messages of Love".  Let me know if you have any ideas.  I would love to hear them.

The idea or inspiration behind the piece is a story of true love.  The two birds, who were once together and free, are now separated because one was captured.  The bird that flies free can never forget its true love and move on.  Every day the free bird collects hearts (tokens of love), flies back, and delivers them to its love in the cage, so it never feels alone and always feels loved.  The two may be separated by bars, but it can't stop them from loving one another.

Just a little something in my head and now on fabric.

This is one I plan to sell.  I really want to keep it, but I have no more walls for all my art :).  I haven't decided on a price yet or listed it ... must take better photos tomorrow.

I hope you like it!